


An Artist's Most Valuable Tool

by LadyNoLuck



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on a Tumblr Post, M/M, Mild Language, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2018-01-12 07:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1183674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNoLuck/pseuds/LadyNoLuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>I have determined the artist’s most valuable tool is not the pencil, the stylus, or the brush.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>It’s something we take for granted…</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Artist's Most Valuable Tool

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a comic that I saw on tumblr: http://fartingcatsandrainbows.tumblr.com/post/75839049802/some-comics-about-thoughts-about-hands-to-get-me  
> It really struck me as someone who creates art, but also neglects the care of her hands. My knuckles are currently bleeding to the point that it looks like I socked someone, so when I was presented with this comic, I felt an unstoppable urge to write it out.
> 
> Enjoy, and there are some definitions in the end author's note if you need them.  
> … and Happy Valentine’s Day!

_I have determined the artist’s most valuable tool is not the pencil, the stylus, or the brush._

_It’s something we take for granted…_

“Eren, I am freezing my ass off already!” the man shivered, rubbing his mittens together and holding them in front of his nose and mouth to contain his warm, white wisps of breath.

“I am trying here, Levi! Give me a second!”

Eren threw the man an annoyed look over his shoulder, before returning to the task at hand. He could not—for the life of him—grasp the right key because of his mittens. He just wanted to lock the door and leave with Levi already. It was supposed to snow within the next hour, but he could not let this errand wait until after the snow stopped falling.

Fiddling with his ring of keys, Eren once again could not grip the right key, and the entire key ring slipped from his hand and landed into the leftover snow from the last snowstorm they had. He glared down at them for a moment and then let out a loud groan. Immediately, he ripped his mittens off and threw them angrily at the ground. Eren scooped the cold keys from the snow, chose the right one, stabbed it into the lock, and turned it. Shoving the keys into his pocket, he snatched up his mittens and roughly pulled them on.

Eren turned back to his companion, who looked like he was working really hard not to laugh at his display.

“Not a word, Levi,” he hissed, already starting to walk up the sidewalk.

“But—” Levi began, his voice hinted with mirth.

“Not one,” Eren growled.

Levi chose to let it go, smirking at the other powerwalking over the unevenly snow-covered sidewalk. After a while, he had caught up to Eren, who had slowed down, and walked side-by-side with him.

They stayed silent. No one was outside with the snow coming into the area in just a bit, so there was only the sound of the crunching of snow under their feet and the sound of a momentary and miniscule slip in the slush. As they approached the historic downtown area, the sidewalks narrowed, and the two walked shoulder-to-shoulder, the backs of their mitten-covered hands brushing.

By the time Eren and Levi arrived at the store, their cheeks, noses, and ears all had gone red, a bell signaling their entrance into the heated building.

“Welcome! We are closing in half an hour, so I will be happy to help you find anything you are looking for!” the clerk said from the registers next to the front door.

Eren offered the clerk a smile and replied, “Thank you, but I know where it is.”

“Okay!” the worker looked relieved for some reason, “I will be here if you do need help.”

Eren looked over to Levi, only to see him glaring darkly at the poor kid behind the counter, so he smacked the man in the arm. “Stop that. You are scaring them.”

The other only responded after the clerk was out of earshot, “You come here at least once a week. Do they think they still have to help you? That is kind of insulting.”

“Don’t worry, Grumpy,” Eren sighed, “I think they must be new. Why should I get offended when they don’t even know me?”

Huffing, Levi conceded his argument.

The store was skinny, but went back pretty far, as most of the buildings in the area do. Because of it, the two were once again bumping elbows. The desired section was in the back, and they came upon it quickly. There, Eren handed Levi a short list and pointed him in the right direction. Though Levi hated shopping, he hated inefficiency more, so he yanked the slip of paper from his companion and strode over to the correct shelves with heavy steps.

Eren chuckled at his childish stomping and head over to the display nearby. Dragging his finger down the smooth labels on the side, he found the desired name and tapped the label habitually, pulling out one 2B pencil, before getting a 4B pencil below that drawer, and a 6B pencil below that. He always has to get new pencils once a month, but his last projects left him with just stubs only halfway through the month.

He looked down at his pencils to double-check he had the correct ones, reading the etchings on the pencils’ sides. Once he confirmed that he had the right pencils, Eren began to walk toward the end of the aisle to get his next thing, when a small display caught his eye.

Apparently, the store sells little decorative stickers for tablet styluses for customization. Eren thought about his Wacom Intuos tablet and his boring, black stylus. Sure, a green stylus would be neat and all, but he has enough trouble with the whole system already. The stupid thing would sometimes wig out and click and select stuff, instead of letting him draw, for no obvious reason. Knowing his luck, Eren worried that he would only make the thing work less than it already does, so he kept on walking to the display at the end.

Picking up a brush after putting his mittens in his back pocket, he ran his fingertips over the surface of the strands to feel the consistency, before returning it to its spot and trying another. Eren had no preference for brushes, but he needed the right one for ink, since his last one had finally fallen apart after three years. Levi told him it probably would not last the month, and the artist was shocked and kind of hated that the man had a better grasp of his tools that him. He picked one that seemed good for ink and went back to the entrance of the section, where Levi held a sketchbook and a couple hot and cold press illustration boards.

“What a good little boy!” Eren joked, reaching to pet the top of the man’s head that stopped just above his own nose.

He was deflected by a block with the Bristol paper sketchbook and a scowl. “I am older than you, shitty brat.”

“No one can tell though, since you are so sho—”

This time, his teasing was ended by an elbow to the gut.

As they went to purchase the items, Eren gave Levi an apology that he scoffed at, especially after hearing the laughter behind it.

They paid and thanked the clerk, who bid them to “Come again!” The bell rang once again at their departure.

Outside, Eren asked Levi to hold his bag, so he could put his mittens on again. He started to pull them out of his pocket, when a sudden gust of wind blew them from his fingers and unceremoniously into a puddle in the gutter.

Levi could not help it this time and laughed heartily at his misfortune.

“ _Levi_ ,” the artist growled, scooping up his soaked mittens and wringing the water out the best he could until his hands and fingers grew red and swollen with cold. “Put the pencils and brush into the other bag, and give me the empty bag.”

The man continued to chuckle as he followed the order, giving the small bag to Eren, who put his mittens in it, tied it shut, and rolled it up, before shoving it into his back pocket.

Hands uncovered, the artist stashed them into his coat pockets and began to walk ahead of Levi again, but a hand at his elbow pulled him back. Without explanation and with leftover laughter pulling up the corners of his lips, the older man had yanked Eren’s hands from his pockets and forced his own mittens onto the other’s hands.

Levi started up the sidewalk, but when he didn’t hear Eren behind him, he stopped and turned toward the artist whose face was full of surprise. “What?”

Eren reddened, from the cold perhaps.

Levi gave him the usual smirk.

“Those are important, right? Your hands, I mean.”

Surprise turned into happiness almost as quickly and suddenly as the snow began to fall around them.

_I have determined the artist’s most valuable tool is not the pencil, the stylus, or the brush._

_It’s something we take for granted… our hands._

The artist ran up to the man and pulled the bag from his grip, placing a mitten in his palm instead.

“Put it on,” Eren ordered with a grin.

Confused, Levi conceded and covered his one hand with the mitten.

Returning the bag to the older man’s newly protected hand, the artist beamed, “Now, we can do this…” Eren took his bare hand and grabbed Levi’s own bare hand, lacing his fingers between Levi’s and then stuffing the hands into his pocket to keep them warm. “How is this?”

_And when someone holds my hand…_

Levi stared down at the pocket his hand had been pulled into.

“Warm, I guess?” he supplied, as the two began walking down the empty street with snow slowly gathering on the ground.

Eren bumped his shoulder into the man’s, saying, “You know what I mean, Levi.”

_And when someone holds my hand…_

_I’m not sure if they realize the trust I place in them…_

“You have warm hands, Eren,” Levi’s fingers that were threaded through Eren’s squeezed softly and pulled the hand into Levi’s own pocket. The man turned his face toward the artist’s, leaning closer, “Warm hands that make beautiful things and always should.”

The snow was falling harder now, but the two stayed cemented in place, looking each other in the eye, their breath forming clouds.

“I will never let them freeze.”

_And when someone holds my hand…_

_I’m not sure if they realize the trust I place in them… to not break the most valuable thing I own._

**Author's Note:**

> 2B, 4B, 6B Pencils: The number-and-letter combos refer to different grades and classifications of pencils. Pencils are classified by the level of hardness (H) or blackness (B). The scale goes from hardness (H) to softness (which corresponds with blackness (B)). The number denotes how far it is from F (the very middle type, not really hard, not really soft/black). A typical pencil is usually around 2H. B pencils are preferred among artists because they tend to be easier to erase and make better, darker marks, but they tend to dull fast.  
> Wacom Intuos: This is an electronic drawing tablet that can be connected to a computer to aid in the creation of digital-based art. Wacom is the manufacturer, and Intuos is a specific line of drawing tablets. Incorrect setup with the computer can make using a drawing tablet a huge pain.  
> Brush Consistency: What Eren is checking is whether the "hair" of the brush is synthetic or not and whether the strands are tight with one another or more fanned out. Synthetic or real hair (boar hair is common) sometimes effects how the paint or ink gets put down, and, depending on your goals, different "hair" styles are used, but some people use whatever they want and work with it. Tight- and loose-stranded brushes affect painting in similar ways.  
> Hot and Cold Press Illustration Boards: It is sort of like a poster board, but with more thickness. Hot Press is generally smoother. Cold Press is generally softer and more absorbent. Depending on the technique, different types are used. For example, some pencil artists like the rougher, grainier look of Cold Press board, while others like the smooth, very blended effects they can achieve on Hot Press.  
> Bristol paper: This is uncoated paperboard used for art, including technical drawing and illustration. Bristol paper is also sometimes used for many other paper-based items, from paperback book covers to wedding invitations.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please comment and tell me what you think!  
> PS: I am going to update LtC soon.


End file.
